Faults:

Bad wheel vibration at 65mph was sorted by new tyres and wheel alignment.

Heated seats and lumber adjust haven't worked since I've owned it.

Some rust on passenger door where it was re-paneled 10 years ago. All other panels are immaculate.

Difficult to down shift to 2nd gear.

The previous owner spent over £1500 on it over 4 years. Parts inc. clutch, carb, front struts, exhaust, ignition, brake cylinders, brake pipes...

Will change the cam belt ASAP - just to be sure.

General Comments:

The car was bought for £220 as a 2nd car/work horse for lugging stuff about.

But its so good I've sold my other car and use the Volvo everyday.

Comfortable hard-wearing interior.

With a mix of SENSIBLE town and motorway driving it returns 35mpg.

People have said that the handling is a bit scary in the wet. However, with half decent tyres and if you don't drive like a complete lunatic, you'll be hard pushed to lose it. But you can put the back end out if you want, and its quite good fun.

The brakes are amazing for a car this age, on a par with new cars.

Cheap spare parts are readily available from breakers.

Its not the prettiest car in the world, and has absolutely no credibility what-so-ever. People point and laugh.

Faults:

Required a new clutch.

Needed wheel bearing.

Replaced the carb twice (to no avail, it seemed to enjoy running like a pig at idle!)

It ate front tyres.

Other minor things like brake pads etc.

General Comments:

Driving the 340, at first, was a pleasurable experience as I had been driving a 950cc Fiesta previously. However, it didn't take long before the novelty wore off and I began to realise just how truly disgusting the car was. The ridiculous 1.7 litre engine dropped oil from the sump and the gearbox leaked oil from the back of the car which failed to impress me. The engine refused to idle unless the choke was opened which added a whole new dimention of nightmare-ish-ness to traffic jams.

Never before or since have I driven a car that handles as badly as the 340. Cornering in the wet while accelerating (even gently) would, without fail, throw you and your unsuspecting passengers into an extremely frightening and, it has to be said, life threatening situation as the back end began to slide. If I had a pound for every time I ended up facing the opposite direction in that car, I would have been able to afford something with traction control!

The performance of the 1.7 was passable, but certainly on the miserable side, and get some passengers in the back and acceleration is non-existant. I look back on that engine with particular distaste as I now drive a 760 Turbo which is a totally different (and infinitely better!) world.

But perhaps the worst thing about the 340 was the way it looked. Never have I laid eyes on anything so ugly in my life. A disgrace. What were they thinking when they came up with that monstrosity? Its horrible from the front. Its got a fat rear. From the side it looks truly unflattering leaving absolutely no angle from which it looked remotely attractive!

Although it ran like a pig, it never actually broke down once, however, which is a fair achievement really. And I must congratulate the boys and girls at Volvo because they certainly know a thing or two about seats! I was very comfy in the 340. But, I can happily say my 340 days are over.

To sum up, if you need a good car for under £200, you will not find anything to beat it. But if you don't like driving round in 8 tonnes of solid iron then perhaps you should look elsewhere!